Boat pumps



J. sKovRANEK June 23, 1959 BOAT PUMPS Filed Oct. 30, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY n June 23, 1959 J. sKovRANEK 2,891,499

BOAT PUMPS Filed Oct. 50, 1956 v j 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO RN EY United States Patent BOAT PUMPS John Skovranek, Perth Amboy, NJ.

Application October 30, 1956, Serial No. 619,299

1 Claim. (Cl. 114-183) This invention relates to a pump of the type which, when installed in a boat, is operated by the incessant intermittent pull of the boat on the mooring line, to pump out any water that may be at the bottom of the boat.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device of the character described, which will be ecient in operation and yet which will be composed of the minimum of operative parts, which are apt to get out of order, and particularly free from close-tting slide bearings, or rotary bearings exposed to the weather. More particularly, this invention provides a pump which is operated by intermittent pulls of the mooring line but which, nevertheless, gives a secure attachment of the mooring line to the boat.

The invention accordingly comprises the device hereinafter described, one embodiment of which is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a boat in which the device is installed; Fig. 2 is an enlarged central vertical section through the bow of the boat showing the device, partly in section; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the device seen from the direction of the arrow -3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section through the valve head on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, the numeral represents the boat, generally. As shown here, the device of this invention is mounted in the bow of the boat, which, as shown in Fig. 2, has a bow post 11, a deck 12 and a bottom or keel 13. The device of this invention is primarily a llexible disc type of pump, designated generally at 14, which is supported from the deck 12 by means of a bracket 15. The disc pump comprises primarily a rigid disc head 16, in the form of a anged cup, which is carried by the bracket 15. The open side of this cup is closed by a flexible disc diaphragm 17 attached around the periphery to the llange of 16. A spring 18 is cornpressed between the head 16 and the diaphragm 17 to hold the diaphragm in its outer position.

A lever 19, pivoted at 20, to the bottom of the flange of the head 16, extends upwardly over the center of the diaphragm 17 to engage a nut 21 and from thence up above the head, where it is bent over toward the bow of the boat, as shown at 22. The nut 21 is carried by a bolt 23 which preferably clamps a pair of cup-shaped washers 24 back to back against the center of the diaphragm.

The forwardly bent over portion 22 is pivoted to a sleeve nut 25. A draft bolt 26 extending through a rubber sleeve 27 in the bow of the boat, has at one end an eye 28 and has its inner end screwed into the sleeve nut 25. The bow line of the boat may be attached to the eye 28, or a connector 29 may be pivotally attached to the eye 28 to carry an eye bolt 30 to which the bow line may be attached.

The rubber sleeve 27 serves as a shock absorbing device, to limit the movement of the lever 19 and at the same time to cushion the pull. To this end, a washer 31 may be provided upon the stem of bolt 26 to lie against. the rubber sleeve 27, and a lock nut 32 locksl the bolt 26 in its position in sleeve nut 25 and lies in position to engage the washer 31.

The lever 19 may be provided with a downwardlyprojecting lip 33 in position to engage the bracket 15 if the recoil from the pull becomes excessive or if the rubber sleeve 27 should yield too far.

With this construction, it will be `apparent that a pull from the bow line will operate the lever 19 to press the diaphragm 17 inwardly against the action of the spring 18, thus reducing the volume of the pump chamber confined between the head 16 and the exible diaphragm 17. As soon, however, as the tension on the bow line is released, the spring 18 will again force the diaphragm outwardly, increasing its volume. This is the customary action of a pump of this type.

In the head 16 is an opening 31 connected by a tube 32 to a valve head 33. This valve head 33, as will be seen from Fig. 4, that two orii'lces, each controlled by a ball valve. One of these oriices, 34, the inlet orice, has an upwardly facing valve seat 35 upon which rests the ball 36. The end of the inlet comprises a downwardly projecting stub 37 through which are bored oriiices 38 for the intake of the water of the boat, when the device rests in the boat.

The outlet end of the valve head 33 comprises a stub 39 which is also provided with a valve seat 40 against which rests the ball valve 41, and it discharges through a tube 42, the end of which may be thrown over the side of the boat.

With this construction, it will be seen that the intermittent pull of the bowl line will alternately compress and release the diaphragm 17, and by that action will force water out of the tube 32 and hence past the valve 41 out of the boat, and the release of the bow line will, by reason of the spring 18 through the inlets 38, replace that water from the water in the boat. Thus, on each pull of the line, a quantity of water will be discharged equal to the difference in the volume of the pump.

With this construction, it will be seen that since there are no piston valves to be moved, no slide bearings requiring attention, no rotary bearings to bind, the device may be made to operate day after day, year after year, without attention; and because it operates continuously, or substantially continuously, while the boat is tied up, it will normally keep any water from accumulating and it will quickly dry the boat, even after a rain.

What I claim:

A pump for a boat comprising a cup-shaped chamber rigidly attached to the frame of the boat, a flexible diaphragm attached around the periphery of said chamber to close the same and form a chamber, a lever mounted upon said periphery in position to engage the middle portion of said eXible diaphragm whereby the movement of said lever will change the volume of said chamber, a sleeve extending into the side of the boat and a draft bolt slidable in said sleeve adapted to be attached to a mooring line and being connected to move said lever and means for limiting the movement of said draft bolt relative to the sleeve to that required to operate the diaphragm, and spring means within said chamber for pressing diaphragm outwardly and a valve mechanism connected by a hose to said chamber directing the flow of liquid' from said chamber to the outside of the boat and permitting the intake of liquid to said chamber from the bottom or the boat.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,877,210 Kohler Sept. 13, 1932 2,624,305 Herrick et al. Ian. 6, 1953 2,634,687 Smith Apr. 14, 1953 

